If organizers have their way, then the Jane’s Walk in Nanaimo will be a little bit better each year because the city will be a little bit more walkable each year.
Nanaimo’s second Jane’s Walk event is this Saturday, May 4, in downtown Nanaimo.
The event is named for writer and activist Jane Jacobs, who advocated for community members to have a say in urban planning, and the walk is intended to spark conversations in that spirit.
Tyler Brown, who organized the first Jane’s walk last year and is now a City of Nanaimo councillor, is co-organizing this year’s event, too. He said last year’s walk succeeded in helping people see that the city belongs to everyone and everyone can help to shape the urban environment.
“And that’s been wonderful to see, actually, that takeaway that this is our city and we can help to shape its future,” Brown said.
This year there are two hour-long walks being offered – one through the downtown, starting at the statue of Frank Ney at Maffeo Sutton Park at 11:45 a.m., and one in the south end, starting at at Deverill Square Park at 1 p.m. Brown said those routes were chosen to align with some of the interests of the walk guides.
“Ultimately these are intended to be community-driven, and we were able to identify some interesting conversation points along those sites and that’s why it really made sense,” he said.
The walks are free, and there will be a wrap-up social at 2:30 p.m. at the Vault Café.
READ ALSO: Jane’s Walk showed downtown from different perspectives
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